Bag frame and clasp



Dec. 11 1923.

T. H. RAMMEL BAG FRAME AND CLASP Filed Feb. 7, 1922 INVENTOR.

A TTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 11, 1923.

UNITED sra'ras IAfLZSl PATENT GFFHQE.

THOMAS H. RAIQIVIEL, OF PLAIN'VILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB. T0 WHITING & DAVIS COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

BAG FRAME AND oLasP.

Application filed February 7, 1922. Serial. No. 534,693.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, TEoMAs'l-I. RAMMEL, a citizen of the United States, residin at Plainville, in the countyof Norfolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bag Frames and Clasps; and Ido hereby declare the fol-.

lowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains, to make and use the same.

This invention relates to hand bags,

purses, and, in general, to bags of the type having frame members to which link mesh or other materials composing the body of the bag is attached; and the invention relates more particularly to an improved form,

of construction for the frame members and a clasp device for locking the frame members together in their closed position.

The bag frame consists of a pair of frame members, usually hinged, and to these are secured the parts of the clasp device for locking the frame members together in their closed position. The inner meeting surfaces of the frame members are flat and are recessed at adjacent or opposite points for receiving the parts of the clasp device, the recesses and parts being so proportioned, that when the frame members are brought together for closing the frame, the members contact over their entire meeting surfaces and close tightly. 7

Set in the recess in one of the frame members is a spring-pressedapertured slide in cooperation with which a project-ion or lug in the recess in the other frame member is adapted to act to lock the frame members together when they are closed one upon the other. The frame member with which the slide is associated has a sleeve secured thereto at its apex, and the apertured slide forms the inner end of a stem which is mounted in the sleeve. The sleeve is formed to provide a shoulder at its inner end for retaining one end of a spring which acts against the stem, exerting an outward pressure for holding the aperture in the slide slightly out of alignment with the cooper atinglocking lug on the other frame member. The lug .has a hooked portion which is shaped to engage the inner side of the aperture and which acts to force the latter inwardly against the pressure of the spring when the frame members are pressed together for closing 'By exerting sufiicient pressure on the frame members, the lug is snapped into the aperture and the hooked portion thereof engages theinner side of the slide. interlocking the slide andthe lug andlocking the frame members. The lug is released for opening by inward pressure upon the end of the'stem to bring the aperture in the slide in registry with the lug which allows the free passage of the hooked portlon thereof through the aperture.

By constructingthe frame members and clasp device as above described, the members in their closed position may be made to fit so accurately and tightly together over their meetin surfaces and operating parts of the clasp device that themembers forma substantially continuous exterior surface, or, in other words, a substantially unbroken or uninterrupted exterior. This produces a neat and attractive finish and adds ma terially to the appearance of the frame, be sides precluding the possibility of loss of the contents of the bag by slipping orworking through the junction of the framemembers. And the clasp device provides a simple and effective means for securing the frame members of the bag together, and one which, by the positive interlocking action of the parts of the clasp, insures against accidental opening of the ba while readily permitting disengagement 0 the clasp parts for releasing the frame members so that they may be opened. I

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in application, as an example, to a hand bag or purse. In the draw- 1ngs Fig. 1 is a view in elevation of the frame of the bag with the clasp'device mounted thereon;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the clasp device on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view along the line 33 of Fig. 2; and V Fig. 4: is a" view along the line 4-4 of Fig. 2. i

Referring-to the drawings, the bag frame 5 comprises a pair of frame members 6 and 7, having recesses or slots 8 and 9 respectively near the apex of each, which are situated at points'in the members adjacent or opposite each other, the frame members being spring-hinged at 10. Mounted in the recesses in the frame members are the parts of the clasp device provided for interlockin'g the members in their closed position. These retesses and the clasp parts situated therein are so constructed and arranged that the meeting surfaces 11 and 12 of the members 6 and 7 respectively contact throughout when the members are brought together for closing the frame. In this way the frame members are made to fitrtightly' together, their upper portions enclosing operating parts of the clasp, and their out side surfaces presenting a substantially continuous exterior surface 13 for the frame of the bag when closed. 7

Secured to the frame member 6 is a sleeve 14, and this frame member is also provided with a pair of guides 15 extending over the slot 8 as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4t. Mounted in the sleeve 141- is a stem 16 which terminates at its inner end in a slide 17, the latter having an aperture 18 therein. The upper end of the stem 16 is provided with a head 19 secured thereto by means of a screw 20. The head 19 is provided with an annular depression 21 for receiving the upper end of the sleeve. The sleeve 14: is formed with an internal shoulder 22 between which and the inner portion 23 of the head 19 is a coil spring 2& exerting an outward pressure upon the stem for a purpose hereinafter stated.

The other frame member 7 of the bag is provided with a lug or catch 25 formed with a hooked portion 26, the lug being situated in the slot 9. The recesses Sand 9 in the meeting surfaces 11 and 12, respectively, are made sufiiciently deep to completely enclose the guides 15, slide 17, and lug 25 when the frame members 6 and 7 are locked together in the closed position. Thus, in Fig. at, frame members 6 and 7 are shown in the closed position of the bag in which the meeting surfaces 11 and 12 contact throughout their length and present a substantially continuous exterior surface when the bag is closed. In order to allow the surfaces 11 and 12 to contact with each other, the slot 9 is made sufficiently deep to receive and house the portions of the guides 15 and slide 17, which extend above the surface 11, and slot 8 is made sufliciently deep to house the portion of catch 25 projecting above surface 12 and interlocked with slide 17 The outward pressure exerted by the spring 24 on the stem through the head 19 normally keeps the slide 17 in a raised position abutting against a shoulder 27 at the inner end of the sleeve, in which position of the slide, the aperture 18 is slightly out of alignment with the lug 25; that is, the normal raised position of the slide 17 is such that the lower edge of the aperture therein is slightly above the hooked portion 26 of the lug when the frame members are brought together. The lug and slide are forced into interlocking engagement by order to hold the frames 5 and 6 firmly against lateral movement so as to further insure that their outside surfaces present a substantially continuous surface when closed, they are constructed with the aliglr ing or positioning surfaces 30 and 31 (Figs. 1, 2, and 3) on frames 5 and 6, respectively. These surfaces, on account of their inclined or arched shape, as viewed in Figs. 1 and '3, and on account of their inclination, as viewed in Fig. 2, effectively cooperate with each other and with the lug and slide so that, with the parts of the clasp device looked as described above, the frame members are securely held against opening. The effect of the positioning surfaces which are inclined both to'the plane of closure and to a plane at right angles thereto, is to wedge the frame members together at their apexes, so that the clasp device cooperates with these surfaces not. only to hold the frames against opening but also to hold them against any lateral movement, and a substantially continuous exterior surface of the bag frame is thereby secured.

To release the members for opening the bag, pressure is applied downwardly upon the head 19 to move the slide against the spring tension an amount sufiicient to permit the free passage of the lug 25 over the lower edge of the aperture 18 and through the latter. The sleeve 14 has a pair of sockets 28 which provide a pivotal mounting for the bail 29 for attachment of the usual suspension means for carrying the bag.

I claim: V

'1. A bag frame comprising a pair of frame members and a clasp device therefor, the frame members having fiat inner surfaces with cooperating recesses therein at opposite points near the apex of each member for receiving the interlocking parts of the clasp device, the latter including a slide mounted in the recess in one frame member, and a lug mounted in the recess in the other frame member which is adapted to coact 'with th'e slide to interlock said members in their closed position, said interlocking parts of the clasp device being completely enclosed by the cooperating recesses when the frame members are locked together to permit the inner meeting surfaces of the members to contact throughout, whereby to form a substantially continuous'exterior surface.

2. A bag frame comprising apair of frame members and a clasp device therefor, the frame members having flat inner surfaces with cooperating recesses therein at adjacent points near the apex of each member for receiving the interlocking parts of the clasp device, the latter including a sleeve mounted on one of the frame members and an apertured slide mounted in said sleeve and in the recess of said frame member, and a lug mounted in the recess of the other frame member which is adapted to engage the slide through the aperture therein to interlock the frame members in their closed position, said cooperating recesses being of sufficient depth to simultaneously allow said lug to interlock the apertured slide and permit the inner meeting surfaces of the members to contact throughout upon closing of the same, whereby to form a substantially continuous exterior surface.

3. In an article of the class described, a pair of frame members having positioning surfaces inclined to the plane of closure and to a plane at right angles thereto to wedge the frame members together when they are closed and form a substantially continuous exterior surface, and a clasp device for said frame members including an apertured slide, a pair of guideways for said slide mounted on one of the frame members, a lug which is secured to the other of the frame members and which has a hooked portion, and a spring for exerting an outward pressure upon said slide whereupon to keep the aperture in said slide slightly out of registry with the hooked portion of the lug.

4. In an article of the class described, a pair of frame members, having positioning surfaces inclined to the plane of closure and to the plane at right angles thereto, and a clasp device therefor including a sleeve secured to one of said frame members, a stem mounted in said sleeve and terminating in an apertured slide, a pair of guideways for said slide, a lug which is secured to the other of the frame members and which has a hooked portion, and a spring in said sleeve for exerting an outward pressure upon said stem whereby to keep the aperture in said slide slightly out of registry with the hooked portion of the lug, substantially as described.

5. In an article ofthe class described, a pair of hinged spring-pressed frame members having positioning surfacesinclined to the plane of closure and to the plane at right angles thereto, and a 'clas device therefor including a sleeve secure frame members, a stem mounted in said sleeve and terminating in an apertured slide a pair of guideways for said slide which are formed on said frame member, a lug which is secured to the other of the frame members, and a spring in said sleeve for exerting an outward pressure on said stem whereby to keep the aperture in said slide slightly out of registry with the lug, said lughaving a hooked portion which is adapted, when the lug is pressed, to snap into said aperture and engage the slide to lock said frame members together.

6. A bag frame comprising a pair of frame members and a clasp device therefor, the frame members having fiat inner surfaces with cooperating recesses at the apex of the members for receiving the clasp device, and cooperating positioning surfaces on said members inclined both to the plane of 010- sure and to a, plane at right angles thereto, said clasp device including a slide mounted in the recess in one frame member, and a lug mounted in the recess in the other frame member which is adapted to coact with the slide to lock said members in their closed position, said cooperating recesses being of sufficient depth to simultaneously allow said lug to interlock the slide and permit the meeting surfaces of the members to contact throughout upon the closing of the same, whereby to form a substantially continuous exterior surface.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

THOMAS HENRY RAMMEL.

to one of said 

